Gaming POLL: Do you use a vpn?

[Hayato213]

I have NordVPN, I only use it when I torrent, or make an app think Im in cetain country, like how I gotten Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent to run, other than that I don't really use it.

 

[Bedel]

A VPN does not do much for your privacy. There are legitimate (and less legitimate) uses for them, but the #1 advertised feature, privacy, is not really one. Most websites and anywhere that requires logging in or providing personal details is SSL encrypted already so nobody can see your traffic. VPNs are good for spoofing your location, and for avoiding your torrent traffic being traced back to you, but that is about all they are good for for most people.


You can't crack the encryption. Not with all the computing power in the world. Maybe with quantum computers, when those are widely available in say... 200 years, give or take about 180 years.

Yeah, just this. I was gonna answer to the people who asked me at the first page, but you just did far more great than I could.
Also, to add some info: even spoofing your location isn't so proven. You have to always access (even for the first time) to the page with the VPN, and even that way you don't know how many info your fingerprint has, and external servers can (and do) take that info and compare it to previus data they had about you. And yeah, your IPS can't see your activity with a VPN, but the VPN provider can. Sometimes that's far worse xD. At the end of the day, only use a VPN to access pages blocked in your country.

 

[Deleted User]

yes. I use it at work so my boss can't see I browse this forum.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Yeah, just this. I was gonna answer to the people who asked me at the first page, but you just did far more great than I could.
Also, to add some info: even spoofing your location isn't so proven. You have to always access (even for the first time) to the page with the VPN, and even that way you don't know how many info your fingerprint has, and external servers can (and do) take that info and compare it to previus data they had about you. And yeah, your IPS can't see your activity with a VPN, but the VPN provider can. Sometimes that's far worse xD. At the end of the day, only use a VPN to access pages blocked in your country.

Your ISP can't see your activity *without* a VPN, since almost all traffic is SSL encrypted these days. All they can see are which domains you visit, which isn't terribly useful to them. They can see you browsing porn but they don't know what kind of porn

 

[AkikoKumagara]

Only when I have to since it's a sacrifice to download speed when it's active... but I did buy 2 years (and received an extra two months promo) of PIA recently and thought it was a fair deal.

 

[Julie_Pilgrim]

Used them back when I went to physical school to get past school blockers, but since I go to online school now, I don't use a vpn

 

[Crazynoob458]

Used them back when I went to physical school to get past school blockers, but since I go to online school now, I don't use a vpn

i go to physical school becuase australia has very low cases

 

[Julie_Pilgrim]

i go to physical school becuase australia has very low cases

Honestly, I kinda miss physical school, but if I go back, I'm 99% sure my grades will tank since I've learned like absolutely nothing

 

[Crazynoob458]

Honestly, I kinda miss physical school, but if I go back, I'm 99% sure my grades will tank since I've learned like absolutely nothing

GUESS WHAT
i absolutely hate it becuase of shit idiots around me

 

[Deleted User]

But first, lets hear about our new sponsor NordVPN-

 

[Crazynoob458]

But first, lets hear about our new sponsor NordVPN-

we gotta do the first sponsor
NUTvpm
EDIt: i realised im not in the eof

 

[Griffin36]

Yes I do use it occasionally

 

[Vila_]

If a vpn service is constantly aggressively advertizing to people and doing shady practices like limited time offers, "20% off just for you", "sign up for ______ to get __% off", etc. then I wouldn't trust them.

VPN companies often use fearmongering to sell you their products so most people seem to get the idea off vpn wrong:
1. VPNs don't necessarily prevent attacks to your network
2. VPN companies can easily spy on their customers
3. VPNs aren't magic, they don't just randomly protect you from the internet
4. most VPN companies often use the same provider, they can also set their own pricing so you could very well be paying more for the same servers (e.g. ProtonVPN uses Mullard VPN's servers)
5. most sites and companies can still (and do) track you regardless of your ip adress or location, they often do this through fingerprinting, with new methods of tracking users seamingly coming out every other day (like the new favico.ico tracking method)
6. all free VPNs are basically user data farmers

Why use a VPN?
1. it allows you to access region locked stuff
2. its better than nothing

My recomendation:
if you really need a VPN the best choice is Mullard VPN, most VPNs use their servers and its better to go straight to the source, going through other VPNs (even if they're cheaper) wil create a "man in the middle" situatio n which makes it very easy for them to collect your data while its travelling to mullard's servers

otherwise just set up a pihole...

 

[Larry91]

Yeah, sometimes it's very useful.

 

[Goku1992A]

If I am pirating something or doing something illegal yes lol otherwise no

Once you get a DMCA letter from your internet provider you don't ever want to get another one again! Always get a paid VPN no free

The free one was the reason why I got the letter because it had shut off in a mid download

 

[Hells Malice]

Only when necessary since they're virtually useless to run 24/7. I just use one to watch American netflix/prime video/other streaming crap
Or when torrenting if I remember since my ISP does like to send those useless "ur a pirate pls don't be" letters.

 

[AlexMCS]

My country ROFLs at DMCA, and privacy is but an illusion, so...
I do use 2-4 VPNs at once, as intended, for work, since I'm a Network Manager.

Most people use it to avoid ISP monitoring, without even realizing what they are doing in the first place: you are just paying money to give your privacy away to a third party instead of your ISP. It's only mildly useful to avoid the pirate hunters.

I bet those VPN providers make some money on the side by selling your traffic data directly to the data hungry companies (Google, Amazon, M$ etc).

 

[DKB]

I have one on my iPad on 24/7. Useless, but who fucking cares.

 

[Sicklyboy]

Different VPNs for different reasons.

On one hand, I have VPNs that are provided as part of usenet subscriptions. Not the best VPNs in the world by any stretch but are sometimes "good enough" for torrenting. It at least makes it that much more difficult to track something back to yourself.

On the other hand, I finally set up a VM at home that serves as a Wireguard peer, and now I have a constant VPN connection from my phone back to my home network. 10% so my mobile provider can't see my shit, 90% to give me access to internal LAN resources when I'm away from home.

 

[Edgarska]

VPN's use the same technology used by banks and militaries to keep information secure, not even the VPN knows what you do

"Military grade" is not a real thing, it just means AES encryption, which everything online uses anyway.